City Council Speaker Christine Quinn and another reigning populist in city government, Manhattan Borough President Scott Stringer, joined the media circus outside Cooper Union on Thursday evening to denounce the Rent Guidelines Board, right before the nine-member panel voted 5 to 4 in favor of one of the steepest rent hikes in years.

As of October, rents will increase by 4.5 percent for one-year leases and 8.5 percent for two-year leases. Tenant advocates and proponents of RGB reform claim the annual vote is little more than what Ms. Quinn called "a rubber stamp to rent increases every year," and have urged the board to come up with creative solutions.  read more »

The Rent Guidelines Board proposed increasing rents on the city’s 1 million stabilized apartments by between 3.5 to 9.5 percent at their annual meeting at Cooper Union last night, in an upset for tenants and landlords alike.

The nine-member board will hold two public hearings before determining in June an increase that could be substantially larger than those of the past two years. The increases could range from 3.5 to 7 percent for one-year leases and 5.5 to 9.5 percent for two-year leases renewed between October 2008 and September 2009. Rents rose 5.75 percent on two-year leases and 3 percent on one-year leases in 2007; and 7.25 percent and 4.25 percent, respectively, in 2006.

Only a smattering of mainly senior, picket-wielding tenants were in the audience on Monday night, a relatively poor showing compared to past meetings. But otherwise it followed the same script as its predecessors, pitting beleaguered tenants against landlords claiming hardship.  read more »

The state Attorney General's office accepted 710 condo and co-op plans for New York City in 2006, a 73.6 percent increase over the number accepted in 2005, suggesting that the home-building boom in the city continues to reverberate despite rising foreclosures in some areas and a tougher mortgage market for consumers.  read more »